The Collected Shorter Plays (32 page)

NOTES

All That Fall
. Written in English, 1956. First broadcast by the BBC Third Programme, January 13, 1957. First American broadcast, by National Public Radio, took place on Beckett’s eightieth birthday, April 13, 1986. First publication by Grove in
Krapp’s Last Tape and Other Dramatic Pieces
, 1960.

Act Without Words I
. Written in French, 1956. (
Acte sans paroles I
). First performed with
Fin de partie
(
Endgame
) at the Royal Court Theatre, London, April 3, 1957, with music by John Beckett (a cousin). Published in
Fin de partie suivi de Acte sans paroles
. First publication by Grove in
Endgame, Followed by Act Without Words
.

Act Without Words II
. Written in French, 1958 (
Acte sans paroles II
). First performed at the Institute of Contemporary Arts, London, January 25, 1960. First publication by Grove in
Krapp’s Last Tape and Other Dramatic Pieces
. In France, it appeared in
Comédie et actes divers
(Minuit, 1966).

Krapp’s Last Tape
. Written in English, 1958. First British performance at the Royal Court Theatre, London, October 28, 1958. Published in
The Evergreen Review
, 1958. First American performance at the Province-town Playhouse, New York, January 14, 1960 (part of a double bill with Edward Albee’s
The Zoo Story
). First publication by Grove in
Krapp’s Last Tape and Other Dramatic Pieces
.

Rough for Theatre I
. Written in French in the late fifties or early sixties (
Fragment de théâtre
). First publication by Grove in
Ends and Odds
, 1977.

Rough for Theatre II
. Written in French in the late fifties or early sixties (
Fragment de théâtre
). First publication by Grove in
Ends and Odds
.

Embers
. Written in English, 1957. First broadcast by the BBC Third Programme, June 24, 1959. Appeared in
The Evergreen Review
, 1959. First publication by Grove in
Krapp’s Last Tape and Other Dramatic Pieces
.

Rough for Radio I
. Written in French, 1961 (
Esquisse radiophonique
). Appeared as “Sketch for Radio Play” in
Stereo Headphones
, 1976. First publication by Grove in
Ends and Odds
.

Rough for Radio II
. Written in French some time in the early sixties (
Pochade radiophonique
). First broadcast, in Beckett’s English translation, by the BBC on April 13, 1976 (the author’s seventieth birthday). First publication by Grove in
Ends and Odds
.

Words and Music
. Written in English, 1961. First broadcast by the BBC on December 7, 1962, with music composed by John Beckett. Appeared in
The Evergreen Review
, 1962. First publication by Grove in
Cascando and Other Short Dramatic Pieces
, 1969.

Cascando
. Written in French, with the subtitle “Invention radiophonique pour musique et voix,” early sixties. First broadcast on France Culture, April 3, 1963, with music composed by Marcel Mihalovici. Beckett’s translation was published in
The Evergreen Review
, 1963. First British broadcast on the BBC Third Programme, October 6, 1964. First publication by Grove in
Cascando and Other Short Dramatic Pieces
.

Play
. Written in English, 1962–63. The world premiere was in German (
Spiel
) at the Ulmer Theater, Ulm-Donau, June 14, 1963. First American performance at the Cherry Lane Theater, New York, January 4, 1964. Published in
The Evergreen Review
, 1964. First publication by Grove in
Cascando and Other Short Dramatic Pieces
.

Film
. Written in English, 1963. Beckett’s only screenplay, which was shot in New York in the summer of 1964 and led to his only visit to the United States. Directed by Alan Schneider; starring Buster Keaton. Shown at the Venice and New York Film Festivals, 1965. First Grove edition (with illustrations, production shots, and an essay by Alan Schneider), 1969. Also in
Cascando and Other Short Dramatic Pieces
.

The Old Tune
. Beckett’s English adaptation of
La Manivelle
, a play for radio by Robert Pinget. First broadcast by the BBC Third Programme, August 23, 1960. Published in
The Evergreen Review
, 1961. A stage version
was first performed at the Royal Playhouse, New York, March 23, 1961. First publication by Grove in
Collected Shorter Plays
, 1984.

Come and Go
. Written in English, 1965. The world premiere was in German (
Kommen und Gehen
) at the Schiller-Theater, Berlin, January 14, 1966. First English-language performance at the Peacock Theatre, Dublin, February 28, 1968. First American performance at the Theater for the New City, New York, October 23, 1975. First publication by Grove in
Cascando and Other Short Dramatic Pieces
.

Eh Joe
. Written in English, spring 1965. Beckett’s first work for television and also his directorial debut. First broadcast in German (
He
,
Joe
) by Süddeutscher Rundfunk, April 13, 1966 (the author’s sixtieth birthday). The first English-language production was broadcast by BBC 2, July 4, 1966. First publication by Grove in
Cascando and Other Short Dramatic Pieces
.

Breath
. Written in English, composition date unknown. First performed (in a version altered without Beckett’s permission) at the Eden Theater, New York, June 16, 1969, as a curtain-raiser to Jacques Levy and Kenneth Tynan’s review
Oh! Calcutta!
(the title is a pun on the French “O quel cul t’as,” “Oh what an ass you have”). First publication by Grove in
First Love and Other Shorts
, 1974.

Not I
. Written in English, spring 1972. First performed at the Repertory Theater of Lincoln Center, New York, November 22, 1972, as part of a Samuel Beckett Festival. First publication by Grove in
Ends and Odds
.

That Time
. Written in English between June 1974 and August 1975. First performed at the Royal Court Theatre, London, May 20, 1976. First American production at the Arena Stage, Kreeger Theater, Washington, D.C., December 3 of the same year. First publication by Grove in
I Can’t Go On, I’ll Go On
, edited by Richard Seaver, 1976. Later included in
Ends and Odds
.

Footfalls
. Written in English, 1975. First performed with
That Time
at the Royal Court Theatre, London, May 20, 1976. First American performance as above. First publication by Grove in
Ends and Odds
.

Ghost Trio
. Written in English, 1975. First televised on BBC 2, April 17, 1977. First publication by Grove in
Ends and Odds
.

. . .
but the clouds
. . . Written in English, October–November 1976. First televised on BBC 2, April 17, 1977. First publication by Grove in the expanded edition of
Ends and Odds
, 1981.

A Piece of Monologue
. Written in English, 1977–79, for the American actor David Warrilow. It premiered at the Annex of La Mama, ETC, New York, December 14, 1979. The text appeared in
The Kenyon Review
that same year. First publication by Grove in
Rockaby and Other Short Pieces
, 1981.

Rockaby
. Written in English, 1980. First performed at the Center for Theatre Research (SUNY Buffalo), April 8, 1981, as part of the university’s Beckett Festival. First publication by Grove in
Rockaby and Other Short Pieces
.

Ohio Impromptu
. Written in English, 1981, for a symposium at Ohio State University in honor of Beckett’s seventy-fifth birthday. First performed in the Drake Union, Stadium 2 Theater, May 9, 1981. First publication by Grove in
Rockaby and Other Short Pieces
.

Quad
. Written in English, 1981. A work for television, first broadcast in Germany (
Quadrat 1 + 2
) by Süddeutscher Rundfunk, October 8, 1981, directed by Beckett. First publication by Grove in
Collected Shorter Plays
.

Catastrophe
. Written in French, 1982, in support of imprisoned playwright Václav Havel, who later became president of the Czech Republic. First performed in French at the Avignon Festival, July 12, 1982. First Ameri can production opened at the Harold Clurman Theater, New York, June 15, 1983. Beckett’s English translation appeared in
The New Yorker
, January 1983. First publication by Grove in
Three Plays
, 1984.

Nacht und Träume
. Written in English, 1982 (
Night and Dreams)
. A work for television, first broadcast in Germany by Süddeutscher Rundfunk, May 19, 1983. First publication by Grove in
Collected Shorter Plays
.

What Where
. Written in French, 1983 (
Quoi où
). Beckett’s English version premiered with
Catastrophe
and
Ohio Impromptu
at the Harold Clurman Theater, New York, June 15, 1983. First publication by Grove in
Three Plays
.